The Olympics are still a few months away but if the Indian hockey team can play in Tokyo like they did at Bhubaneswar last week, there is much to hope for. At Kalinga Stadium, India beat Australia 3-1in the FIH Pro League via shootouts after the match finished 2-2 in regulation time. It was their first victory over the Aussies since 2016, when they had won in Bendigo, Australia.
It was a brilliant show by the entire team but special mention must be made of PR Sreejesh, who had another fantastic match. For the umpteenth time, he stood like a wall and kept denying the Aussies over and over. In the shootouts, the visitors were able to score past him only once after he fouled Daniel Beale, and Matt Dawson converted from the penalty stroke. They failed on the other three occasions. For the Indians, Harmanpreet Singh, Vivek Prasad and Lalit Upadhyay scored with ease. Now, both India and Australia have10 points from six matches.
India were a much-improved side. They had the Aussies gasping for breath on a number of occasions. The Indians were faster, more organized and passed well. They had control over the midfield, which made it difficult for the visitors to attack through the middle. But coach Graham Reid must do something about the failure to convert chances when it comes to scoring field goals. Ramandeep Singh was specially poor. This problem needs to be addressed before India face Germany in April.
